Day of the Dolphin

I guess the title gives it away but it was too perfect. We decided to splurge on another excursion, knowing that Ocean Rafting was a great trip because it was the one we went on last time we were here and that the dolphin pods had been spotted around Lana'i, where this trip went. One of the cool things about this trip is that it has a relatively small group (around 12) and heads across the channel on a 30 foot, high speed zodiac. We showed up bright and early (bright and early is getting harder) and loaded up with our crew. We had high hopes of dolphins but weren't counting on it, knowing that it only happens occasionally and that there would be good snorkeling no matter what. As we headed out across the channel, our captain, Timothy, told us that it was shaping up to be a Brochure Day, the weather being perfect and the water being calm. As we motored out, I realized that it was at this point, almost exactly 14 years earlier, that I turned to Janice and said, "if we ever have a girl, we should name her Makena." This story, on the boat, garnered Makena a lot of attention. There were only 10 of us on the boat so there was lots of room on the pontoon for Makena and I to ride it out.

We sped across to Lana'i. At one point, we hit the brakes and spun a quick 180. I thought "dolphins for sure." Sadly, it turns out it was just some dumb kid's Happy Birthday balloon floating in the water and our crew, ever the environmentalists, swung around to pick it up. Another boat saw us do the big u turn and though the same as me so radioed but had to be disappointed too. We soon came to our first snorkel spot.

It was called Armchair because the hillside on the island looked like a giant armchair (apparently someone had a great imagination). There was a big finger reef jutting out from the shore. It was about 6 feet deep over the reef and around 50 feet off the edges. Lots of fish and quite good but with a strong current. After about 20 minutes, someone called "Turtle!" Now, we're a bit spoiled and have seen lots of turtles but flippered over with everyone else to have a look.

So, there we were in 40 feet of water, away from the boat, away from the reef, and the captain, on lookout from the boat, calls to Shawn, who is in the water with us, and gives him the SHARK signal, which I learned in scuba school. He was trying to be subtle but finally yelled "I don't know if that's a shark or a dolphin." Some tried to swim away but, seeing 3 or 4 fins, I was quite sure it was dolphins and encouraged everyone to stay, realizing that if it was sharks, seeing as how we couldn't make it to the boat anyway, the more people around the better. Well, it was a pod of huge, adult spinner dolphins who swam right up to us and past us. It was amazing. As they swam past, I was lagging behind because I had my beautiful Makena in tow. I thought that was the end of dolphins for me but no. Janice said "look behind us" and there were another 6 dolphins swimming past. It was a thrill of a lifetime.

We got back in the boat and headed off to Manele Bay, further down the island. We all said "that'll be hard to top." When we got there, there were probably 100 dolphins, jumping, spinning, circling. We saw a baby dolphin with it's mother. We anchored, hoping the would stay but sadly, they swam off. That was the end of dolphins for the day but how cool it was.

Our last stop was at a place called Sweetheart Rock. It was really neat. Janice, Isaac and I all swam through an underwater arch in quite rough water. A little spooky but awesome.

We loaded up and motored home, and just when we thought it was all over, Captain Timothy stopped the boat in the middle of the channel, in 300 feet of water, and offered us one last chance for a swim. He said the water is supposedly like silk here. I thought "yeah, whatever," but he was totally right. It was amazing. (have I used that word enough).

We were totally bagged when we got home but had a great day.